DVD finally on the way!/Comment on ending
Hi all. Just to let you know, I'm currently working on a DVD release of the film. Don't know the specific date yet, but Sony/MGM is aiming at the spring.
By the way, I try to address the frustration some people have with the ending on the commentary and an interview. I've always been confused when people see it as a 'happy' ending. That certainly was NOT my intention.
SPOILER ALERT!!!!
Yes, it's different from the book, but, when you have your main character realize that his actions turn out only to serve the very system he's fighting, it's far from happy. (Jerry's last line: 'I should have just sold the chocolates. I played their game anyway')
In fact, to me the film was in part a response to 'Karate Kid' type films where the hero 'won' by beating up the bad guy. My idea was that here, in beating up Archie, Jerry is doing exactly what the system wants him to, and by pitting the two most challenging minds in the school against each other, the system effeciently protects itself. Obie as head of the Vigils wil be petty and stupid and cruel, and no threat at all to rock the boat.
I sometimes feel people have a knee-jerk reaction to seeing that the ending is different, and assume I was trying to create a Hollywood ending. But I think, if you look closely, you'll see that, while different (and perhaps not satisfying to some), it certainly isn't 'happy'.
My feeling was, if I stayed with the book's ending, without the literary ability to be inside characters' heads, it would have felt not just dark, but purely nihilistic. 'Life sucks and then you die'. I wrote a draft that way, but it felt empty and overly-simplistic. It works great in the book, but I'm not convinced it would have made for a good film.
Thanks,
Keith Gordon